Last Ones Left
by spindzp
Summary: Salem's assault on Haven failed miserably, with her forces being wiped out. The Malachite twins, who joined up with her, wake up in a wasteland unsure of what happened, if anyone else survived, and if someone is out to finish them off.
1. Chapter 1

_Hell._

That was the only that could be used to describe the ruin. The entire battlefield looked like a smoldering wasteland, even long after the battle was over. What remained of this section of Mistral was burned out and gutted, much like as if a nuke went off. There was no life in any direction. No signs of anything, human, faunus, or Grimm.

Melanie Malachite's eyes slowly opened and as she looked around, she was met with this wasteland. She slowly sat up, brushing rubble off of her and tried to get to her feet. A sharp pain shot through her leg like lightning and she groaned in agony, still not completely conscious. She looked at her leg and did a double take, a shard of metal cut deep into her calf.

Melanie reached for a piece of half-charred wood to pull herself up, the wound in her leg pulsating waves of stinging pain every time she moved. She broke the piece of wood off of what was left of the foundation and leaned on it, using it as a makeshift walking stick. The first thing she felt while walking was that the air was much colder than it was before she lost consciousness. "I've must have been out for weeks" she thought to herself. She kept hobbling along, looking for any survivors.

For the better part of a day she limped along, looking for something different. Nothing changed, just miles and miles of wasteland. She was about to sit down and try to get some rest when she came across a small grove, or what was left of it. It was really only a few half dead trees and a stagnant pond. What really caught her attention was the sound of a girl sobbing, the voice sounding similar to her own. Melanie approached the source of the noise slowly, not wanting to disturb her. She kept walking towards the girl when she stepped on a fallen branch and it crunched loudly.

The girl spun around grabbing a vintage hunting rifle off of the ground and fired in Melanie's direction. She missed horribly, the bullet impacting a nearby tree and splintering wood everywhere. The girl slid back the bolt on her rifle, chambering another round when she stopped and looked straight at Melanie, who was frozen in place.

"M-Melly, you're alive!" the girl stammered out and ran to her, pulling her into a tight hug.

Melanie blinked, unsure of who it was for a second until she realized it was her twin, Miltia. She looked corpse like, pale and emaciated, with dark circles under her eyes. Melanie hugged back gently, without saying anything.

"I thought you were long gone..." Miltia continued, tears of joy and relief streaming down her face.

"What happened?" Melanie asked calmly, her memory being hazy and blurred.

"I...we...I don't know" Miltia started sobbing into Melanie "I'm just glad you're ok"

Melanie hugged Miltia, patting her back as Miltia cried into her. She sat down as Miltia cried into her and tried to think of what happened. She couldn't discern one memory from another, they were just mashed together into some kind of hellish slideshow. Melanie felt what she thought was tears at first, but then she realized the source of the liquid was not her eyes, but her head. She rubbed her forehead a little and looked at her hand. Dark, red blood covered her fingertips as she realized that she suffered more than just a leg injury in the battle.

Melanie let go of her twin slowly from her embrace and looked her in the eyes "why don't we go find the rest of them." She suggested to Miltia in a fake optimistic tone, trying to give her hope

The girl in red wiped her eyes and nodded slowly "o-ok" she stammered out, sniffling as she spoke.

The twins got up and walked along the pond, Miltia walking slowly as Melanie limped along behind her. Melanie had the rifle slung onto her back, being the less malnourished of the two. They walked along for about fifteen minutes until Miltia turned around slowly and looked her twin in the eyes "it's no use" she flatly stated, seemingly without emotion but with a small pang of sadness in her voice.

"What do you mean" Melanie responded, wondering what her sister meant.

Miltia sighed sadly and looked down "everyone's gone."

"As in..."

"They're all dead." Miltia added. "I'm surprised you made it, I thought that boy with the wolf ears bashed your head in."

Melanie struggled to recollect what happened. The last thing she remembered was fighting a boy, a bit taller than her. She tried to kick him in the throat and he slashed her leg open with some kind of cross between a cleaver and a hatchet. Everything was a blur after that.

Melanie sat down and put her hands on her head. "What the fuck..." was all could she could say. She was trying to process what happened. She took a few deep breaths and then looked up at her twin. "Everyone as in..."

"Everyone we know" Miltia continued "the fact of the matter is we were way over our heads."

"Did we win?" Melanie asked, wondering what the outcome of the battle was.

Miltia choked up a bit and looked down again "...no."

"So the city still stands?"

"Yes." Miltia was holding back tears, as she knew everyone that would even be remotely friendly to her and not wanting her dead or in prison was gone. They couldn't go to anyone for help. Not even Junior, for the twins betrayed him six months back.

Melanie stood up and grabbed her makeshift walking stick "We need to head into a town, it doesn't matter what the hell we did we were too low on the chain of command for anyone to give a shit. Ninety percent of everyone there will just see us as two random girls. We need to get you some food and I need some kind of stitches or pain meds." she took a step forward and winced, cussing under her breath.

Miltia wiped her eyes and followed her twin the other direction, towards what was left of Mistral.


	2. Chapter 2

_Three Days Later_

Melanie awoke in a small twin sized bed. She slowly sat up and looked around the room, seeing that it was moderately clean. She still had no clue where she was, the last thing she could remember this time was limping behind her twin through a half-burned wheat field and sitting down to catch her breath. She slowly sat up, noticing that the pain in her leg was still there, but a milder, more dull pain.

A girl, about seventeen walked in wearing some kind of medic uniform consisting of a green skirt, a green jacket with a red cross on it, and white gloves. She had short, red hair and prominent deer antlers, being obviously a Faunus. "Oh! You're awake." She said softly. "You've been out for some time."

"How long?" Melanie asked looking at the young woman.

"About three days or so" the girl responded "Your sister got us to you in time, otherwise your wounds probably would have developed gangrene."

Melanie looked up and asked the woman "Can I get a name?"

"Anya." The woman replied with a single word. She then took a bandage off of Melanie's head and wrapped a new one around it. She could feel heavy duty staples behind the bandage, sealing the gash where the boy who she fought attempted to scalp her.

"Melanie. Melanie Malachite." she stated, sharing her name to the girl taking care of her.

"I already knew that but alright. Nice to meet you." Anya said with a smile. "Your twin is fine by the way, all she needed was some food." she added.

Melanie was taken aback slightly that Anya knew her name, but assumed she had something on her when she was found, like a card or an ID tag. She was relieved that Miltia was in better condition than when they found each other back at the pond.

Miltia then walked into Melanie's room and took a seat in a chair by the bed. She looked a lot better, the dark circles under her eyes gone and no signs of malnutrition. "You're awake sis." Miltia said and then got up to hug her twin. Melanie sat up in her bed and hugged back.

"Yeah, I have no idea where we are again." Melanie responded.

"Well we're in a cottage. The people that took us in turned it into some kind of makeshift hospital."

"So they're like some kind of team of doctors?" Melanie asked

Anya butted into the conversation "Can't you see the symbol on my jacket?" she remarked snidely and chuckled a bit. Melanie glared.

"Shut the fu-" she was cut off by Miltia before she could finish speaking.

"Yeah she's still kind of out of it I guess from the head wound." Miltia spoke over her twin and then turned to her and said in a much quieter tone, but with a harshness in her voice "Can you not be a total bitch to strangers for five seconds? These people helped us."

Melanie grumbled and stared out the window. The sky was gray and a soft rain was falling. She could see Mistral, still standing off in the distance, but with ruin all around it.

"I can tell." Anya sighed and continued "You two are under the care of myself and two under nurses working under Doctor Maroon. You two and about twenty other people are patients at this Field Hospital we set up. We have a few high level military personnel under our care, including an Mistralian Captain."

"Thanks for letting me know." Melanie said coldly, still looking out the window. "Can I go look around?"

Anya nodded and helped her up and handed her a cherry wood cane to help her walk, the wound in her leg still being a hindrance. Miltia held the door open as she walked out of the room and into the main area. The room's left wall was lined with patients side by side like sardines, with about five of them on actual beds. Their conditions varied, with some having only minor scrapes or a broken bone, others having massive gashes or missing limbs, and a couple were covered under a sheet, obviously dead. "So this is it huh?" Melanie asked

"Yeah." Anya answered with a single word.

"Not much of a hospital." Melanie said, observing her surroundings.

"Never said we were a good example of a hospital." Anya retorted "Sad excuse of one if you ask me" she added

"Yeah, pitiful" Melanie remarked. "But it exists, and I guess that's good enough. I'm going to head back to my room now." Melanie limped back to the room she was in and sat on her bed, looking out the window again.

Things were different. The dirt road leading up to the house had a parked armored car with the Atlas symbol painted in black on the side. The car itself was painted a dark green, unusual for an Atlesian vehicle, and sported triple Dust powered machine guns in a round turret on the roof of the car.

Five men stepped out of the vehicle. One was wearing an officers uniform, that of a Major or Colonel. The other four were in full Atlesian soldier gear, each holding their standard issue assault rifles. A man, about six foot, olive skin, and in his fifties with maroon hair approached the officer and invited him inside. The four soldiers waited outside by the car.

Melanie looked at the car for about five minutes when Miltia walked in swiftly, slammed the door, and spoke with panic in her voice "There's something going on outside." Miltia helped her twin up and softly opened the door open to where they could look out through the crack.

"We suspect your team is harboring two young women wanted by the combined Council of the Four Kingdoms." The Colonel stated with a firm tone.

Dr. Maroon looked at the colonel and asked "Do you know what they look like or what they're wanted for?"

"Treason and terrorism charges." the colonel answered flatly, with no shift of tone in his voice. "They're almost identical, with black hair and green eyes."

"I believe we do. I apologize for not reporting it to the proper authorities." Dr. Maroon said with fear and respect with his voice "I'll take you right too them." He turned and walked towards the door of the room the twins were in.

Before he could move five feet Anya drew a white, suppressed, 8mm pistol with the White Fang emblem emblazoned on the grip and shot the doctor in the back of the head. He fell with a thud and before the colonel could make a move for the gun, she shot him twice. Once in the head, once in the chest. She then turned and strangled the captain to death, who didn't put up much of a struggle. Anya then ran to the door and threw it open.

"You two! We need to get the hell out. Now."


	3. Chapter 3

"Why are you helping us?"

That was the first thing that came out of Miltia's mouth after the trio grabbed whatever they could use and left the cottage as fast as they could, Miltia and Anya running while Melanie limped along. "If you're white fang, why are you helping two random humans?" She added

"Because you're-" Anya was about to explain her reason when the sound of gunfire cut her off. The accompanying soldiers took notice to their commanding officer and the doctor being shot dead. She ducked down into the tall grass and motioned for the twins to follow suit. They waited for the cacophony of small arms fire and the sound of the armored car's turret to cease.

Once it did, the three slowly got up and looked around. The soldiers were combing the area for their whereabouts. "Okay, what are we supposed to do now?" Melanie asked Anya.

"Where are your guys' weapons?" Anya responded with another question. "I'm going to assume if you two were wanted, you guys have some."

"Well, we lost ours..." Miltia responded

"Do you two have extras?"

"Well...yeah."

"Where?"

"Vale." Both Melanie and Miltia said in Unison.

Anya looked down and cursed under her breath. "Alright, I left my White Fang stuff in that shack over there." She motioned to a rusty, tin shack with a single window about five hundred feet away. The view of the shack was shrouded by the tall grass the trio was hiding in. They waited for a couple minutes and then crept up to the shack. Anya then pulled out a key and unlocked the door, which could've just as easily have been broken down.

Anya walked into the shack, with Melanie and miltia entering behind her. There was a small, square table in the middle, with four chairs on either side and a map on top of it. A large safe was on the back wall of the shack, most likely containing weapons.

"You came prepared." Melanie told Anya after she looked around.

"Yeah they'd find out eventually." Anya said, "I set this up before I joined Doctor Maroon's team of medics." She pulled up a chair and sat down on one side of the table, with the twins pulling up chairs on adjacent tables.

"What is the map for?" Asked Miltia

"It's a map of the surrounding area." Anya said. She pointed to a blue circle near the center of the map "That's the cottage that we just escaped from. The center of the map is this shack." She then pointed to a shaded area of gray in the southeastern edge of the map. "That's Mistral City." She then moved her hand to a white, elongated rectangle northwest of the center. "That's a small airstrip. There are dust powered airships and some piston powered planes predating the Great War. I assume a collector owns them." She added

"And we're going to the-"

"Airfield yes." Anya said "unless you want to trek for weeks through the countryside and get killed by a pissed off villager with a side by side or some Grimm."

"Well that was our plan..." Melanie said softly

"Well your plan is pretty shitty." Anya retorted. "Anyways, there's some guns in the safe over there. The passcode is 32154.

Miltia was the first to walk over the safe and punch in the passcode. The safe clicked open and she saw what was inside. There was a couple assault rifles, a large, .44 caliber revolver, two small, 9mm handguns, a massive anti-materiel rifle chambered in 12.7x108mm, and assorted blade weapons. Miltia took a 9mm handgun and the sniper rifle.

Melanie was the next to grab weapons from the safe, and she took the .44, a hunting knife, and one of the assault rifles. Anya just grabbed the other assault rifle and closed the safe.

"We wait until nightfall to move." Anya told the twins firmly and they both nodded.

A few hours passed in silence, with Anya and Miltia taking naps and Melanie twiddling her thumbs. It was about five in the afternoon when Melanie walked over to the redhead deer Faunus and woke her up.

"There's no bathroom in this place," Melanie said frustratedly.

"Are you two so used to...nevermind. Just go take a shit outside or piss or whatever." Anya responded with a chuckle and waved Melanie off.

Melanie huffed and got up to go outside when she heard the distant crack of a gunshot and the window shatter. She instinctively fell to the floor and yelled "SNIPER!"

Anya shoved milita hard in her side so she'd wake up and then pushed her to the floor. Miltia was about to tell her off when the redhead cut off what she might say. "There's a sniper over there. Stay the fuck down."

The three stayed completely still for about ten minutes then Miltia slowly grabbed her new rifle. Melanie crawled over to the other two and briefed them on where the sharpshooter was. "Judging by that shot and how long it took, he's using a DB-50, the standard dust powered sniper rifle of Atlas. He's also about 750 yards out."

Deery chuckled softly, not to alert the sniper of her presence. "I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd know this much, your voice doesn't help. How did you know that?" She asked.

"Oh I don't know... _reading_ is pretty interesting." Melanie said sarcastically and shot Anya a cold glare.

Anya rolled her eyes. "Are you a bitch to _everyone_ you meet?" She asked, pissed off to a degree.

"No, but straight up saying 'your voice makes you seem stupid' makes me act like one."

"Alright, just shut the fuck up. I'd hate for your head to become a smoothie."

While Anya and Melanie were bickering, Miltia perched her weapon on the rotted windowsill and looked through its scope, scanning for where the sniper was located. She saw where the armored car was, but no one around it. She moved the gun to the right and saw nothing. She moved the gun to the left and saw nothing. She was about to switch positions when she saw the glint of a scope and shot at it, the bullet hitting its mark.

Miltia thought she neutralized the sniper for a second until she saw that it was a mirror and she heard the sniper fire. The bullet flew only a couple inches over her head and she could feel it whizz over her hair, which parted momentarily. She then saw another glint and fired, but it was another mirror.

She ducked down and heard the sniper fire, this time the bullet hitting the outside of the shack, putting a hole in the tin and then the would about two feet to the left of her. She knew that if she didn't shoot him, he would shoot her.

Miltia got back up and looked out again, only to see nothing. She then saw yet another glint and zeroed in on it. She fired again, hoping that this was the target this time. She lucked out, the bullet hitting the enemy sharpshooter in the head, red mist going everywhere as the bullet punched right through his helmet. The short haired twin then gave a thumbs-up to her sister and Anya, who slowly got up.

"Not bad...Matilda is it?" Anya complimented her shooting but got her name wrong.

"No...Miltiades, but you can call me Miltia." Miltia corrected her. "Thanks, I never thought I was very good" she added

"Alright...let's get the hell out of this cottage," Melanie said and started to walk out, with Anya and Miltia following close behind. She still had a limp but she was able to move at a steady pace.

The trio crept up on the armored car and noticed two soldiers leaning up against it, one lighting a cigarette.

"Any word on Ssgt. McPhereson?" the younger looking soldier asked?

"Not that I've heard of." The other responded.

"You think he's OK?"

"He's fine, that sonofabitch always gets his kills."

"Okay...anyways who are these people we're going after?" The younger soldier asked another question

"Two snotty twins that happen to be 'dangerous' and some Faunus terrorist shithead that decided to help them. I'm surprised our friends haven't come back with their heads in a bag yet." The older, more experienced infantryman laughed and continued "the only danger the two, over make-uped bitches pose is STDs if you decide if you fuck em!" He started laughing.

Anya looked over to Melanie to see her furious. She then nodded to Melanie, wanting to see what she was capable of.

Miltia stayed back while Melanie charged the older soldier. Anya pulled out her assault rifle and shot the younger soldier through the neck four times, the bullets containing a small amount of explosive dust so that they took the boy's head off. He crumpled to the ground as his head rolled off behind him.

The older man grabbed his bayonet but he didn't have enough time to use it. Melanie, even with her leg wound, kneed him in the chin, sending him to the ground. She then got on top of them and sliced open his abdomen, disemboweling him. She then stabbed him multiple times in the neck and chest until he stopped moving, snarling the whole time like a wild animal while she did it.

Anya and Miltia got out of the grass and walked towards Melanie, who was brushing herself off.

"You _really_ hate people making any kind of comment about you don't you?" Anya smirked, but she also sounded somewhat concerned when she asked this.

"Yeah...I really do" The longer haired twin responded.

"...I think you need more mental help than anything, and I was in the white fang. Good god..." Anya said, shaking her head "Nevermind, let's get in the car, the airfield is a bit of a drive." The three girls got into the armored car, leaving the dead soldiers on the ground, and drove towards the airstrip.


	4. Chapter 4

Dusk

The three parked the armored car outside of the airstrip, which was about 200 yards away. The airstrip was surrounded by a thirteen foot wall on three sides, with a swamp extending out from the fourth side.

Anya stepped out of the armored car and pulled out a pair of binoculars left over by the previous occupants and scanned the area, looking for enemy movement and patterns. She then lowered the binoculars and nudged Melanie in the shoulder, who looked over.

"What is it?" Melanie asked.

"There's a patrol every half an hour around the area where the base meets the swamp. I can tell the airstrip is staffed by Mistral Defense Forces troops because of the uniforms. Each patrol is about six or seven men." Anya stated plainly. "They stopped patrolling about two hours ago though, so something must be going on." She added

"Okay thanks." Melanie nodded.

"Do we like, have to go through the swamp?" Miltia asked?

Anya cringed after hearing Miltia's comment and responded sarcastically "no, we can fly over the walls!"

"Ok jeez sorry. I get it we have to go through the swamp."

The twins then got out of the car and grabbed their weapons, following the redhead into the swamp. Melanie and Anya then persuaded to wade through the swamp, with Miltia following close behind them.

"Ew, my dress is like, rui-" Miltia started to complain about her clothes until the girl with the antlers cut her off

"You wanna get shot?" Anya asked sharply, followed by militia shaking her head vigorously. "Well then be quiet." She added.

The three waded through the marsh until they reached its shore. They looked around for any movement near where they would enter the airbase. There was no movement at all.

"Why is no one out?" Melanie asked.

"I have no clue, it's not like I spied on the place." Anya responded "I just know where it is"

Melanie rolled her eyes "you're not much help." She then took a step forward and doubled over, holding her leg. Melanie was about to cry out when her twin covered her mouth. Anya stifled laughter as both twins glared at her. Militia then helped up her twin, grabbing a piece of driftwood and handing it to her.

The twin in white slowly stood up and leaned onto the stick. She took a few steps forward and gave a thumbs up.

"So what do we do?" Militia asked Anya

"We find some kind of aircraft. That's step one. I assume you two do not know how to fly anything, so that makes step two more difficult." Anya explained.

"We actually know how to..." Miltia said softly.

"Wait really?"

"Ya we do."

"Oh! Well shit...that makes things easier" the deer Faunus chuckled while saying this. "Now what does still make things kinda difficult is that your sister can't move very fast..." she added, her tone becoming more serious.

"Lets just go now then"

Anya and militia led the way into the base, with Melanie limping behind.

"Hey guys, I think this place is abandoned!" Melanie called out to the other two, who turned around.

"You might be right..." Anya looked around for any movement, still finding none.

"Might as well go into the infirmary over there, I need some pain meds." Melanie turned towards the infirmary and limped towards the building. She opened the door, giving a thumbs up and went inside. A few minutes passed and then she walked out with a small pill bottle, popping one of the pills in her mouth. "Got them, damn this feels better" Melanie remarked.

"Couldn't be anymore slower?" Militia asked

"Hey, you're not the one with a fucked up leg." Melanie retorted.

The trio moved towards a hanger at the near end of the airstrip that had its doors open. A shape covered by a white tarp was parked inside. They walked into the hangar and slowly removed the tarp. The aircraft under it was about 60 feet long, with a large, bubble cockpit near the front. A medium sized turbine engines rested under each swept back wing. The rear of the plane housed two large aircraft cannons, and two more were housed at the front near the cockpit.

"This son of a bitch looks ancient." Anya remarked, looking at the plane. "I'm not even sure if it's even dust powered."

"Of course it's dust powered. What else would they use?" Melanie grimaced slightly, thinking the faunus' comment was stupid.

"You know people used regular fuel ages ago, before they infused Dust into it."

"Wait really?"

"Yeah. Really really" the girl with the antlers said sarcastically

Melanie sighed and asked "Well then how are we supposed to get it off the ground?"

"Maybe they have some old fuel lying around. Check the barrel over there...Mila is it?"

"Miltia." the girl in red corrected Anya and walked over to the barrel, unscrewing the cap and peering inside. She then gave a thumbs up, screwed the cap back on, and proceeded to roll the barrel towards the jet. The other two girls stopped the barrel as Miltia walked over and they then propped it upright.

Melanie stuck the fuel line into the barrel and watched as the plane slowly began to refuel. When the barrel was emptied, the three hopped into the plane and Miltia climbed into the pilots seat. She turned the ignition, closing her eyes anticipating the engines to not do anything. Instead, the two engines whirred to life.

"Holy shit, this is going really wel-" Anya was about to say when she was cut off by the sound of a bullet impacting the plexiglass of the canopy and spiderwebbing part of the glass.

"Spoke too soon." She muttered softly as all three could hear sirens blaring and the chatter of a machine gun. "Hey Miltia! Get this bitch off the ground!"

Miltia slammed the throttle forward as the bullets from the machine gun hit home, the rounds hitting the plane sounding like rain hitting a roof. The plane slowly moved forward out of the hangar and onto the airstrip. Miltia pressed the trigger on the flight stick, expecting a burst of cannon to mow down the advancing personnel. All she got was a click.

"We don't have any ammo in this thing!" Melanie exclaimed after she heard the click.

"Well then we're going to have to make a break for it." Anya told both the twins as she motioned Miltia to take off.

The aircraft moved faster and faster down the runway as soldiers pursued it. A technical shot out from a garage and sped toward the plane, its machine gunner aiming towards the cockpit. Miltia tapped the rudder control slightly, which made the plane veer left enough to knock the gunner off the truck, a small splatter of red appearing on the wing of the plane. She then yanked back on the control stick, the nose of the plane lifting up in kind. The wheels bounced along the ground as the vintage aircraft struggled to free itself from the bounds of gravity. It finally broke free as the plane separated itself from the runway and became airborne, its nose angled towards the sky and away from the hostile airstrip.


End file.
